BJD stages walkout in Rajya Sabha over Nishikant Dubey’s remarks on Biju Patnaik

THe contestation o'er Bharatiya Janata company (BJP) lawmaker Nishikant Dubey’s remarks on former Odisha chief government minister Biju Patnaik escalated on mon, with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staging a walkout from the Rajya Sabha and party chief Naveen Patnaik terming the comments “outrageous”. Not only opposition leaders, Dubey’s party colleague Baijayant Panda was also critical of the remarks, describing the aspersions cast on the late leader as “ludicrous”.In a statement on March 27, Dubey had claimed that Biju Patnaik was the link between former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US, during the 1962 India-China war.Soon after the Rajya Sabha convened for the day, BJD lawmaker Sasmit Patra said: “We want to place on record our serious protest against the disparaging, false and concocted statements by Nishikant Dubey against Biju Patnaik.”Patra, who had on Sunday resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications, protesting panel chairperson Dubey’s remarks, said the BJP MP had referred to Patnaik as a “CIA agent”. “This is the level that the ruling party has fallen to…this is utterly shameful,” he said, announcing the party was walking out.BJD chief Naveen Patnaik also condemned Dubey’s remarks. “I think the BJP MP needs some mental doctor’s attention for saying these outrageous things,” the former Odisha CM told reporters outside the state assembly.BJP national vice-president and Lok Sabha MP Jay Panda also criticised the remarks against Biju Patnaik.“Biju uncle was a towering personality, not just Odisha’s tallest leader of his era, but among the leading lights of the nation. Most importantly, he was one of the greatest patriots of modern Bharat...,” Panda said in a post on X. “Casting aspersions on his patriotism is fantastical & patently ludicrous. Such attacks on him are unworthy, uninformed, & totally unacceptable.”As the row escalated, Dubey refuted allegations that he disrespected Biju Patnaik. “When the Congress treated Biju Babu unjustly, it was the Jana Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party that stood by him. What I said that day, and what I repeat again today, is that I am running a continuous series exposing the deeds of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress,” Dubey told reporters in the Parliament House complex on Monday. “What allegation did I make against Biju Babu? ...I was speaking about the actions of the Nehru family, and that is all I said. If anyone has been hurt by it, I can only try to explain my position to them.”(With inputs from Debabrata Mohanty in Bhubaneswar)